Sweeper



F. L. COLLIS.

SWEEPER.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 17, 1917. RENEWED SEPT. 13. 1919.

1,337, 1 99, Patented Apr. 20, 1920.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

INVENTOR ATTORNEY F. L. COLLIS.

SWEEPER.

APPLICATION FILED DEC-17,1911. RENEWED SEPT. 13, 1919- ].,337, 199. Patented Apr. 20, 1920.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

Q VXINVENTOR WITNESSES W 25 Mowun. W N 03M W ATTOR NEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRED L. COLLIS, OF IOWA FALLS, IOWA.

Original application filed December 13, 1916.

T 0 all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, FRED L. CoLLIs, a citizen of the United States, residingat Iowa Falls, in thecounty of Hardin and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sweepers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to sweepers, and

' tion and operation which is so constructed as to gather the dirt from the street surface and elevate the same discharging it into a suitable receiving casing. A further object is to provide a sweeper having elevating means so constructed as to be adjustable longitudinally, this elevating means being provided with a plurality of brushes or similar elements for engaging the material and forcing the same up an inclined receiving trough which discharges into the receiving casing. A still further object is to provide an elevating or conveying member which is roekably mounted so as to be longitudinally adjustable whereby the elevating brushes or other elements may be made to engage the street surface in advance of the lower edge of the trough so as to remove the loose dirt from the street surface preliminary to the engagement of the edge of the trough with the dirt which is packed or adheres to the street surface, thus permitting the cutting r loosening edge of the trough to operate to the best advantage. A still further object is to provide a sweeper of the character stated in which the material gathered is elevated by means of a plurality of spaced brushes or similar elements, thus eliminating all possibility of the sweeping element proper becoming either partially or completely inoperative due to hair, strings, and similar trash becoming entangled therewith such as occurs in sweepers in which a single rotary brush is utilized. Further objects will appear from the detailed description.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented A131. 29, 1920.

Serial No. 136,7SG. Divided and this application filed December 17, 1917, Serial No. 207,607. Renewed September 13, 1919.

Serial No. 323,644.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a top plan view constructed tion,

Fig. 2 is a central vertical longitudinal of a sweeper in accordance with my lnvensection,

Fig. 3 is a detail of the means for adjusting the conveyer frame vertically.

Fig. 4 is a detail of the clutch control head.

The inclined trough 1 is provided, at each side, with a side piece 2 which is bent to provide a horizontal arm 3 and an upwardly inclined handle bar i. A sheet metal bottom 5 is secured between the side pieces 2, by means of strips or cleats 6 passed beneath the same and secured to the side pieces. A heavy cutting blade 7 is detachably secured to the lower edge ofbottom 5 of the trough, and is beveled to provide a cutting edge The cutting blade 7 is provided, at each end, with a laterally and forwardly directed gathering member9. These two members form an inwardly converging passage or opening leading to the trough 1 and serve to direct material from each side of the sweeper inward into the path of the lower edge of the trough.

The horizontal arms 8, and the upper portion of trough 1, provide a supporting frame for a trash receiving casing 10 secured thereto. The rear side of this casing is hingedly mounted at its upper-edge to form a door 11 whereby the material which has been collected in the casing may be quickly and easilydi'scharged or removed. At each end of casing 10, adjacent the door 11, a forwardly and upwardly arching arm 12 is secured at its lower end to the horizontal arm 3. These two arms 12 form supporting means for a rounded sheet metal hood 13 secured thereto. This hood serves to confine all dust and dirt within the receptacle 10, thus protecting the operator of the machine. A ground wheel 1% is secured on one end of an axle 1O mounted in casing 10, a similar wheel 15 being mounted at the other end of the aXle, these two wheels serving to support the casing above the ground so as to be easily portable.

An endless conveyer 16 is mounted above trough 1. A shaft 17 is rotatably mounted in side beams 18 of this conveyer, at the lower end thereof. The ends of this shaft project through the side beams of the conveyer frame, each end of the shaft extending through a bearing block 19, which is slidably mounted in a slot 20 of supporting arm 21 which is pivotally secured at its lower end to the side bar 2 of the trough 1, as at 22. The shaft 17 also extends through the upper end of an inclined adjusting brace 23. This brace is provided, adjacent its rear end, with a plurality of spaced apertures 24. These apertures are adapted to receive a securing pin 25 inserted therethrough and through an aperture in the side piece 2 of trough 1 with which anyone of the apertures 24 may be brought into register. A shaft 26 is rotatably mounted in the side bars 18 of the conveyer frame adjacent the upper ends thereof. This shaft is pivotally connected to the side beams 2 of the conveyer by means of supporting arms 27 similar to arms 21. The ends of shaft 26 project through the upper ends of inclined adjusting braces 28 which are provided with the spaced apertures 29 adapted to receive a securing pin 30 for securing the braces to the side bars of the trough in the same manner as braces 23 are secured. The two braces or arms 21 and 27 provide a rockable mounting for the conveyer, and the inclined braces 23 and 28 constitute means whereby the conveyer may be secured in adjustment. By this means, the conveyer 16 may be adjusted longitudinally so as to project beyond the lower edge of the inclined trough 1, if desired.

A sprocket wheel 31 is secured on shaft 17 adjacent each end thereof. These spro'ckets are in alinement with sprocket wheels 32 secured on shaft 26. Two chains 33 are passed about the sprockets 31 and 32. These chains are connected by a series of equally spaced elevator brushes 34 secured thereto. Also, intermediate the brushes 34, heavy sheet metal gathering plates 35 are mounted on supporting blocks 36 which are secured to the chains. The chains 33 and brushes 34 and plates 35 carried thereby constitute an endless conveyer the lower run of which is operative within the trough 1.

A sprocket wheel 37 is loosely mounted on shaft 26 adjacent each end thereof. This sprocket is provided with a clutch member 38 adapted to coiiperate with a clutch member 39 feathered on the shaft between sprocket 37 and the casing 10. An annular flange or collar 40 is provided at the inner end of clutch element 39, and an expansion coil spring 41 is mounted about shaft 26 and confined between collar 40 and the brace bar 28. This expansion spring tends to normally hold the clutch member 39 in operative engagement with clutch member 38. The sprocket wheel 37 is connected by a chain 42 to a ring gear 43 which is secured on the ground wheel. By this means, with the clutch members 38 and 39 in engagement, as the sweeper is pushed forward rotation will be imparted to shaft 26 from the ground wheels, thus operating the conveyer 16 so as to cause the brushes 34 and plates 35 to travel upward and rearward in the trough 1. The brushes and plates will engage material which is directed into the trough during its forward travel, by means of the blade 7 and laterally extending gathering members 9, so as to elevate this material and discharge it into the receiving casing 10 from the upper end of the trough. The plates 35 are not deemed essential under ordinary conditions, but are well adapted for elevating unusual or heavy materials such as heavy mud, stones, and similar objects or materials which would tend to cause injury to the brushes 34.

A transversely extending hand rod or shaft 44 is loosely mounted in the upper ends of the handle bars 4. This shaft provides a convenient hand grip and is secured against longitudinal movement by collars 44 secured thereon adjacent each handle bar 4. A rectangular arm 45 is secured on the shaft 44 adjacent each end thereof. The forward end of this arm is pivotally secured to the end of a rod 46. Rod 46 is provided,

at its forward end, with a fork having wedge shaped arms or prongs 48 the forward end portions of which are reduced to provide the spaced fingers 48. This fork is adapted to engage between the clutch members 38 and 39, when forced forward, so as to engage the sprocket wheel 37 and the annular collar 40 of clutch member 39. When forced into this position, the fork acts as a wedge head so as to force clutch member 39 away from clutch member 38 thus disconnecting these members and permitting the sprocket wheel 37 to idle on shaft 26. This forward movement of the wedge head or fork 48 is accomplished by rocking the shaft 44 clockwise as seen in Fig. 2, thus imparting forward movement to rod 46 through arm 45. By rocking the shaft 44 in the reverse direction, the head 48 will be moved into inoperative position permitting the clutch to operate so as to cause rotation of shaft 26 and operation of the conveyer 16. The forward ends of fingers 48 of head 48 are connected by a bolt 48 which serves to prevent complete withdrawal of the head from between the clutch elements.

An adjusting screw 49 is threaded through the upper end of each of the supporting arms 21 for the conveyer fr'ame side bars 18. The lower end of this screw is secured by loose nut connections to the bearing block 19. An adjusting screw 50 is also provided at the upper end of each of the conveyer frame side bars, being threaded through 'eachof the ar'ms-27 and similarly connected to the bearings blocks which support the shaft 26. By means of these screws 49 and 50,'the shafts l7 and 26 may be adjusted vertically thus insuring proper positioning of the members 34 and 35 relative to the bottom of trough 1 when the conveyer is adjusted. Also, these adjusting screws provide means whereby wear of brushes and plates may be accommodated.

The laterally extending gathering members 9 of the blade 7 extend to each side of the trough so as to project somewhat beyond the ground wheels. By this means, I insure that all material which collects in gutters and similar places closely adjacent curb stones or the like will be removed, the members 9 engaging this material and serving to direct it inward into the path of the trough 1. As will be noted more particularly from Fig. l of the drawings, the laterally extending gathering members 9 are each tapered and turned back at its forward end, as at 9. This provides a' rounded tapering corner or terminal member, thus avoiding all sharp corners or edges such as would tend to catch in any roughness in the curb-stone or pavement and interfere with the operation of the machine. As will be noted from Fig. 2 of the drawings, the axle 10 about which the sweeper may be tilted is positioned slightly in back of the center of gravity of the machine so that the tendency is for the gathering trough and conveyer to tilt downward and forward thus bringing the plate 7 and gathering wings 9 into contact with the street surface. In this manner the plate 7 and wings act as a supporting member or runner for the trough, the slight downward pressure exerted by the weight of the trough serving to hold these elements in intimate contact with the surface to be cleaned. When it is desired to increase this pressure, this may be easily accomplished by exerting slight upward pull on the hand rod 44. By supporting the gathering conveyer and trough on the plate 7 and wings 9 I insure that these members will be continuously abraded or ground so as to provide a very sharp cutting edge which will readily pass beneath all dirt to be gathered so as to loosen and remove the same.

As will be noted more clearly from Fig. 2 of the drawings, the inclined trough 1 is supported by the receiving casing 10 for which the side bars 2 of the trough form a frame, so that the trough may be easily rocked about the common axis of the ground wheels 14 and 15 thus bringing the cutting plate or blade 7 into close contact with the street surface. In addition, as above pointed out, the conveyer may be readily rocked forward so as to cause the brushes 34 and plate 35 to engage all loose material previous to the engagement of the cutting plate with any material which may tend to adhere to the street surface. This eliminates all danger of interference with the proper operation ofthe cutting blade by loose material, thus permitting it to operate to the very best advantage and greatly facilitating the loosening of material which tends to adhere to the surface to be swept or cleaned.

There may be slight changes made in the construction and arrangement of the various parts of my invention without departing from the field and scope of the same, and I intend to include all such changes, as fall within the'scope of the appended claims, in this application in which a preferredform only of my invention is disclosed.

Vhat I claim is:

1. In sweepers, the combination of a receiving casing, ground wheels rotatably mounted at each end thereof, an inclined trough carried by said casing, a conveyer frame rockably mounted on said trough so as to be adjustable longitudinally and toward and away from the trough, the lower end of said trough and frame being located adjacent the surface to be swept, an endless conveyer carried by said conveyer frame and provided with a plurality of spaced sweeping members operative in said trough adapted to contact with said surface and engage and elevate material into and along the trough, the lower run of said conveyer being operative in the trough, means for securing the conveyer frame in adjustment, means for adjusting the conveyer vertically in said frame, and driving connections between said ground wheels and the conveyer.

2. In sweepers, a receiving casing, ground wheels rotatably mounted at each end thereof, an inclined trough carried by said casing and discharging thereinto, a conveyer mounted above the trough and provided with sweeping brushes operative therein, means for rockably supporting the conveyer and for varying the inclination thereof so as to vary the angle between the lower edge of the trough and the sweeping brushes to insure accurate operation of the sweeping means, supporting arms pivotally secured to the trough adjacent each end thereof, each of said arms being provided with a longitudinally extending slot and a block s1idably mounted therein and pivotally secured to the conveyer frame, and means for adjusting said block longitudinally of the arm so as to adjust the conveyer.

3. A sweeper comprising a carriage, a trough on said carriage having one end disposed near the surface to be swept, support ing arms pivoted near the said end, a shaft in said supporting arms, a shaft near the opposite end of said trough, a conveyer carried by said shafts and engaging in said trough, brace arms pivoted at one end to said supporting arms and having spaced openings near their opposite ends, pins on said trough removed from said supporting arms and designed to engage in any of said openings, and means for driving one of said shafts.

4:. A sweeper comprising a carriage, a receiving casing on said carriage, a trough having one end communicating with said casing and the other end disposed near the surface to be cleaned, supporting arms pivotally secured at the sides of the said trough near the ends thereof, oppositely inclined brace arms pivotally secured to said supporting arms, means upon said trough for adjusting said brace arms longitudinally, shafts mounted in said supporting arms for adjustment toward or away from said trough, and means for rotating one of said shafts.

5. A sweeper comprising a carriage, a trough on said carriage having one end disposed near the surface to be swept, supporting arms pivoted at the sides of said trough near the ends thereof and capable of swinging toward or away from each other, bearing blocks mounted for sliding movement longitudinally of said supporting arms, means for adjusting said blocks, and a conveyer passing over said shafts and engaging in said trough.

In testimony whereof I afliX my signature.

FRED L. COLLIS. 

